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An creek so narrow you hardly got your ankles wet separated a village for more than four decades of time. By an accident of topography, the 50 locals of Mödlareuth, a tiny settlement encircled by evergreen groves, fields and spectacular views, found themselves at the heart of the Cold War conflict. They had the unfortunate circumstance to cross the Bavarian region, in the Federal Republic of Germany, and the Thuringian region in the Eastern part, a border that was established first by a fence and then by a barricade. US troops called it Small Berlin.

Commemorating History

Several months after their own wall was torn down, and prior to their state had reunified in 1990, a assembly of local people started commemorating their history. The effort is close to reach completion: on 9 November, the 36th annual commemoration of the demolition of the Wall in Berlin, the Museum of German Division Mödlareuth will begin operations. It was officially launched by the head of state, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in the beginning of October, but the show was not entirely ready. Speaking to the locals who endured the old days, Steinmeier said: “You were observers of an cruel separation, which tore households into pieces and turned neighbours into foreigners.”

“You were bystanders of an cruel division, which tore families asunder and turned local residents into foreigners.”

Historical Context

Even at its establishment in 1810, the community cut across the Royal Bavaria and the Principality of Reuss, a princely house best known for bestowing all its male members the designation Heinrich and counting them in order by birth. As Steinmeier told the gathering, the peculiarity did not stand in the path of the locals socializing in the same inn, going to the same religious building and sending their kids to the very same educational institution.

After the War Split

Next arrived the global conflict. The moment they arrived, the Soviet forces put up timber poles by the brook. For a annual period they took over the entire village, setting up their command in a building on the western side, decorating it with a picture of Stalin and a Soviet emblem. The US forces urged them to withdraw to the other side of the stream. For a period, locals could still cross over, though as restrictions became stricter they were obliged to show identification, despite the fact that everyone knew who they were, and to come back at night.

Intensification of Boundary Controls

Subsequently, in 1952, came metal barriers and the official shutting of the boundary. In 1966, as in Berlin half a decade before, a concrete structure was erected, with landmines, vehicle barriers and guard posts. The locals could still see each other by ascending hills, but on the Soviet side waving and yelling were prohibited. A local woman was added to a East German secret police watch list for responding “likewise” to a western local who said her “prosperous new year”.

Museum Development

It was related to me stories such as these incidents by Robert Lebegern, the head of the institution, who has devoted a large part of his occupational time building it. Locals were polled in the initial phases about how much structure they desired to preserve. They chose a portion on the western fringe, close to where a local resident succeeded to escape in the dead of night with a climbing device, following which the boundary was significantly strengthened.

Preserved Buildings

2 observation towers are preserved alongside a collection of tableaux depicting the most dramatic moments in the village’s past. As we move, the director enumerates the restrictions: not a single person could come within 5km of the frontier. Farmers required special permission to tend to their crops; the husband or wife could operate the combine harvester but never both, lest they tried to flee. Military personnel were on duty.

Broader Background

The boundary between the Federal Republic and the GDR ran 1,400km, from the northern sea in the northern part to this location in the southern region. Berlin is remembered and documented the most frequently, but in excess of double the number people (exceeding 300) were killed attempting to traverse it in rural areas than in the metropolis. the director reminds me that almost all of escape attempts were unsuccessful.

Village Daily Living

The majority of Mödlareuth’s residents were agricultural workers or skilled workers, who adapted to residing in the grey zone between two ideological spheres by keeping their heads down and tending to their land. They did not endorsed the communist regime nor fought it, the director explains.

Tourism

For visitors, however, the village became a type of site of interest. Approximately fifteen thousand visited each year, viewing tools in their hands, to stare – and then quickly go away. In 1983, the United States leader, George Bush, was guided by the national security head.

Twenty five years after merger, Tannbach, a broadcast production about a imaginary community similar to Mödlareuth, led to new interest.

Current Developments

The inauguration of the modern exhibition center – with a cafe, boutique, cinema room and large parking lot – is expected to